Chapter 13

“You can turn sired creatures back to their original kind?” I asked.

“There is a secret ritual known only to the royal family, but it doesn’t work all the time, especially when the creature has been sired for many days. Despite how my father felt about it, I decided to let Queen Verona know of their chances of surviving and that is why she refused to let us try. I don’t blame her, I would have done the same thing. Why would anyone let their own kind die somewhere far away from their loved ones?”

Leon was always caring about others even when they weren’t his kind. I think that was one of the reasons we became good friends. 

“It was hard to see our friends and family in that state,” Monica said. “Queen Verona placed them in a tower and allowed us to visit them. Our mages did all that they could to save them but, one day, it all went wrong. The sired became dead but at the same time they weren’t dead. Their eyes turned black. Bodies became pale. Nails and teeth transformed into those of wild beasts and eventually they stopped talking.” Tears began to streak down her face as she continued to recall the events, one by one. “We started calling them Shriekers because day and night, we could hear them shrieking and they wouldn’t eat anything we gave them. One day, my brother was bitten by one of them while on guard duty.” 

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She began to cry. I couldn’t stand to see her like this. 

Leon, you fool. How long have you been with her and you never knew about her brother? It had never occurred to me to ask her about her family. Why didn’t I? 

“I’m so sorry, Monica,” I said as I reached out and placed my hand on her shoulder. Deven gave me a surprising look but I didn’t care. I felt so many emotions at once. Part of me was enraged at the world for having taken her brother. I felt like promising her that she’d never feel grief ever again, nor would any human if it would make her happy. Another part of me was upset with myself for not doing more. Another part of me wanted to turn back time; To go back and convince Queen Verona to let us try the ritual despite the low chances of success. 

Further! I told myself. To go further back and keep the blood-shots in a tightly secured area. 

Further! To stop the Count from recruiting the younger vampires. 

No! Even further! To go back and prevent the Orcs from ever coming to Kelor. In my mind, stopping the war meant preventing more vampire and human lives from dying. It meant preventing this very moment from ever happening; Monica remembering the death of her brother.

Composing herself she tried to resume the story. “My brother, Sam, seemed….”

“You don’t have to tell us, Monica,” I cut her off. I don’t want her experiencing any more pain.

“It’s fine, Leon,” she said as she clasped my hand in hers. “I want you to know.”

I gave her a light nod and she continued, occasionally looking at Deven as she spoke. “Sam seemed fine at first but as the days went on, he spoke of how his body hurt and after that, he begun to show the same signs that the others had before they started shrieking.” 

Her tears came back again, and before I knew it I was wiping them off her face. She continued. “He begged us to end his pain. He didn’t want to end up shrieking like them or turning one of his kind into a shrieker. The mages offered to do it for us, saying that he wouldn’t feel any pain. We agreed but after the chanting and spellcasting, Sam’s body turned to dust. He was gone. And there was no body for us to bury. Few of the shriekers got out that same night.”

I looked at Deven, and saw him staring back at me, almost as if he was encouraging me to take over and so I did.  “Word got to us and we helped the humans gather them but by then, the damage was already done. Shriekers were appearing everywhere within the humans’ lands. I felt obligated to help them but feared that my father wouldn’t agree. The treaty was the only thing I could think of that would force my father to help them.” 

Deven was amused. “You forced the Count to sign a treaty?” 

“No. I didn’t force him. I represented him. Being heir has its benefits.”

Deven smiled and said, “The Count must have been very happy with his heir when he heard the news.”

“Yes he was. He was so happy that he sent me on a journey to speak to all the creatures of Kelor, assuring them of no ill intent.”

Deven leaned back into his seat looking thoughtful. “The shriekers,” he finally said after a short moment of silence. “Did you get them all?”

“Not all of them. We set up a patrol around the human and vampire lands in an effort to stop them from getting through.”

“Well, at least you tried.”

“Tried?! We are still searching for them. We haven’t given up.”

“Leon, what I meant is that you tried to stop them from spreading. Unfortunately, my friend, the shriekers are in my kinds’ lands as well. We got reports of, humans with black eyes attacking our towns near our eastern borders. My father sent Gunther and Valark to patrol the area and give aid wherever it would be needed. He also instructed that the eastern border be patrolled heavily. He feared an attack from the humans.”

“I remember a little pup telling me that werewolves feared nothing.”

Deven smiled and said, “Sorry did I say fear?” He propped himself upright in his seat and spoke like a silly servant giving an even more silly announcement. “I meant to say my father, the Alpha, didn’t want any surprises on his borders.”

Monica gave a light laugh and said, “If I’m given the opportunity, I will let the king know that there will be no surprises from any humans or vampires.”

I was about to add more silly speeches but heard something off in the distance. At first I thought it was my imagination but after hearing it a second time I became more attentive. “Deven! Are we near any towns belonging to your kind? The last time I used this route I didn’t find any settlements.”

Deven looked surprised. “As far as I know there haven’t been any plans of building one. Why do you ask?”

“I can hear a group of creatures howling in the distance.”

“Could it be the patrol that your father sent?” Monica asked Deven?

“It could be, but they are supposed to be near the eastern border not the north-east, and even if they are near here, they would only be in their wolf form if….” Deven went quiet but his face kept on talking. Danger, it said.

I stretched my hand behind my head and slid a small rectangular panel that allowed me to talk to the man steering the horses. “Stop the carriage.” We came to an immediate stop. Waited. Listened. A moment later, the howls were joined by shrieks.